Common Ground
by Iveechan
Summary: It is nature show-like and may seem boring to a pompous elitist, but I had fun writing it. The humble beginnings of future rivals, Zangoose and Seviper...


Common Ground

The calls of screeching birds echoed throughout the lush forest. Normally aglow with a brilliant emerald radiance, the woods were bathed in a placid golden light signaling early evening. Tiny birds darted through the pale yellow rays and massive moss-coated trees while swarms of nocturnal insects emerged from the foliage and tree bark, enthusiastic about the activities of the coming night. The day was winding down as creatures prepared for slumber or hunts, but a few of the inhabitants were unusually restless.

One young bird covered in blue and red plumes, a Taillow, took an interest to a cluster of rest berries dangling tantalizingly within the grounded shrubs. Without scouting the area first, the naïve little bird descended to the ground and hopped hungrily towards the berry bush. With a flick of its long, split tail, the Taillow effortlessly bounced onto the branch holding the berries. It greedily snapped its beak open and close for a moment, eager to dig into the luscious berries, before thrusting its head forward to pluck them from the branch.

WHUMP!

The Taillow never saw it coming. One moment it was savoring the taste of the berry's juice flowing from its pierced skin down the bird's throat, the next a massive force struck the Taillow and it found itself slammed onto the ground. Its mind went blank as its brain clicked into survival mode and the bird immediately started thrashing and flapping its wings violently. Dead leaves were tossed about as the frantic bird tried to make an escape, but one wing twisted uselessly at its side. The last thing the young Taillow's wide eyes ever saw was a dark shadow and a row of sharp, glistening fangs...

The forest quieted down for a moment, but the wild Pokemon's cries soon started up again. While they may have seemed uncaring for the loss of another, the Taillow's death was necessary for the survival of another life. A cat-like beast cautiously prowled to its quarry, thick, violet claws splayed on either side of the dead bird. The creature was completely covered in fluffy white fur save for the harsh crimson markings decorating its body. Its short face held piercing pink eyes that constantly darted about, seeking out any prey or intruders to its territory. Its long ears swiveled and jerked in the direction of any loud or unusual noise. The long forearms and stubby back legs remained rigid and poised to attack while the long, flowing tail twitched at the base, signaling the cat's careful nature. The creature was a Zangoose, a Pokemon famous for its blazing speed and mastery of its overgrown, retractable claws. Taking one more look around to make sure there were no opportunistic scavengers within range, the Zangoose quickly snatched up the Taillow and swallowed it whole. She coughed a bit, the bird's feathers and clawed feet tickling her throat. She was normally quite picky and precise when it came to meals, always sure to delicately pluck her prey of any rough fur or feathers from its body, but the hunter had a reason for her hastiness.

Her wariness subsiding, the Zangoose settled down on her haunches and suddenly indulged in an intense grooming ritual. Retracting her claws, the Zangoose's hot pink tongue daintily cleaned her fuzzy paws before rubbing them across her face, and the cycle repeated. She then wrapped her long tail around her body and unsheathed her claws halfway to brush the mats and sticky burs caught in the fur. Just as she was about to groom her tail, the Zangoose clumsily tilted to her side, nearly losing her balance. She sneered and pushed herself upright again with her strong arms, but she still had difficulty reaching her bushy tail. A sudden, powerful twinge of movement was felt from within the Zangoose's unusually gravid belly, the culprit of her balance issues. The Zangoose sighed as the kits she carried inside her squirmed and kicked. As much as she looked forward to being a mother and passing on her genes, the cat ferret's unborn young and milk-engorged teats caused her much discomfort and made hunting a tedious chore. Instinct told the future parent that her body would be relieved of her heavy burden very soon, possibly that very night. She did not feel that she had devoured enough food to provide her young with a sufficient amount of nutrients, but the drive to nest and a faint scent of lethal Mightyena lead the Zangoose to silently slink away to the underbrush and to her nesting grounds to prepare for the birthing event.

Miles away in the very same forest lay a mound of boulders hidden by thick foliage. Beneath one of the overhanging stones a few specks of the dying sunlight glistened off a slick and smooth surface. The leafy pile beneath the rock stirred revealing a scaled, obsidian body lined with hexagonal gold markings and dashed with zigzags of purple scars. The owner of this impressive collection of scales and bulk was a massive Seviper, a snake-like creature. The blood-red fangs, flexible like any venomous snake's, rested passively backwards on the side of its head. A long, forked tongue lashed out and flicked the surface of one of the Seviper's perpetually unblinking oculars. She then flicked out her tongue again and brought it to the roof of her mouth, a reptile's way of smelling its environment. The musky stench of roaming Zigzagoon was overwhelming to the black snake. While the puny arboreal Pokemon were of little threat to Seviper herself, the creatures were a danger to something very precious to the wary gastropod. Seviper curled her body protectively around her clutch of mottled eggs. Having devoted months to guarding her brood, the Seviper's normally thick and muscular body was sunken in on the sides. She could normally go for weeks without eating but the survival of her young was much more important than her own general health. At least for the time being.

A slight stirring was felt beside the Seviper's body. She lifted her head and noticed a single egg beginning to move. The snake's body heaved, sighing with relief. By morning, all of the eggs should be bursting with energy and ready to hatch shortly after. This meant that the famished Seviper would finally be able to leave her leafy prison and seek out nourishment. It wasn't that the mother to be selfish, it was just her nature to abandon her young at the time of their birth and let them fend for themselves. Nature just did not wire Seviper the drive to nurture their young. But for now the unborn snakes were safe in their mother's care. Almost no Pokemon would dare confront an irate and hungry Seviper. Except for one. Seviper laid her broad head back on the ground as horrid memories of the beast responsible for her violet scars sprang in her mind.

A blanket of darkness now enveloped the star dappled sky. A Dustox glided under the mood, the lunar light shining through the night moth's translucent green wings. Imitating dancing stars, Illumise flew through the air, leading a swarm of male Volbeat attracted their female counterpart's alluring pheromones, creating beautiful light patterns in the process. The pixie Pokemon, Clefairy, tried their hardest to fly to the moon, but their little wings would give out and they would delicately descend altitude. After a brief break, however, the pink fairies would attempt the impossible quest again. All were oblivious to the miraculous occasion happening beneath them.

Inside her concealed den, the Zangoose heaved and paced about. Her contractions steadily worsening, the cat-weasel propped herself against the den wall only to slide back down in agony. As the mother-to-be struggled to get into a comfortable position, a burst of hot liquid splashed down her legs and the solid form of a Zangoose cub within made its way down the painfully narrow birth canal. The Zangoose mother whimpered. She positioned herself so she was squatting and, using her lengthy arms and thick claws to anchor the den floor and aid her balance, she pinned her ears back and strained her lower muscles. Glancing past her rotund stomach, she was briefly elated at the sight of her glistening first born making its way into the world. With one final, powerful push, the Zangoose kit slipped from the constricted softness of his mother's body to the rugged leaf-littered den floor. The Zangoose mother wasted no time devouring the slimy afterbirth from her offspring. She then bit through the umbilical cord, breaking the final indication of the physical attachment to her young, and then followed up with licking the cub rigorously all over. As the kit let out his first cry, another light contraction started up, and a moment later there were two baby Zangoose being tended by their mother. By the time the first rays of morning flecked upon the night sky, half a dozen fuzzy, white cubs were scrambling atop each other, kneading their tired mother's belly, and filling their own bellies with her warm milk.

While motherhood for the Zangoose was just beginning, elsewhere the Seviper was preparing to leave her brood in favor of her own survival. The memory of her young faded as the reptile slithered from her nest to satisfy her hunger pangs. It didn't take long for Seviper to spot a scavenging Raticate. The large, omnivorous rodent took one look at the predator and completely froze, its ears erect and whiskers twitching. Seviper took this opportunity to strike out at her prey. Her scarlet fangs shot forward and sank into Raticate's flesh. The rat squealed and bolted. While it appeared that the Raticate had made its escape, the deadly venom circulating through its body was already hard at work deteriorating its cells, its own rapidly beating heart quickening the process, pumping its poisoned blood. Seviper flicked her tongue on the ground, picked up the scent trail, then took her leisurely time catching up to the rodent. It didn't long for Seviper to find her prey laying in a dying slump. Wrapping her long, muscular body around the Raticate to position it correctly, she opened her wide maw, pinned her fangs back, the pushed her mouth around her prey, shoving it down her gullet.

Meanwhile, the clutch of Seviper eggs were brimming with activity. Nearly one hundred leathery shells split open and clear fluid dripped out. A few tiny heads made their way from their confinements. Unlike their mother, the newborn Seviper had smooth heads, small nubs where the golden plates would one day grow, and their bodies were jet black, devoid of the violet scars the mother possessed. A few of the baby snakes emerged completely from their eggs and boldly slithered from the nest. Most of their timid siblings remained coiled in their shells. They had a very good reason to, for a dark shadow suddenly loomed over the nest. With a heavy, metallic thud, the steel bird known as Skarmory landed hard on the ground, its silver talons crushing a few un-hatched eggs in the process. The bird eyed the bite-sized Seviper babies squirming among its feet. It then hastily plucked the little snake, swallowed it whole, then nabbed another. Just as Skarmory was about to clamp its toothy beak on another living morsel, its target surprisingly rose up and bared her tiny fangs, hissing viciously. Despite the knowledge that poison attacks could not penetrate a steel hide, the bird was startled and it leapt back. The Seviper hissed one more time before flopping back to the ground and quickly slithered away. The unusual incident soon left Skarmory's short memory and the metal bird continued feasting. By the time Skarmory finished its meal and flew off, only half of the clutch remained. Even fewer of the Seviper will ever expect to live to see adulthood. 

No matter how small and innocent any wild creature appears, it will not protect them from the dangers of the outside world. A Pokemon has to be courageous, tough, and clever if it has any hope of survival. The young Seviper who stood up to her foe was a shining example of such a Pokemon. Unbeknownst to the little black snake, her future rival lay safely nestled with his siblings and parent. While he wasn't wired with the proper instincts to fend for himself at the start of his life, the little mammal still had a harsh road ahead of him on his journey to maturity. 

And one day, these two powerful Pokemon may cross paths and put their strength to the ultimate test. 


End file.
